原文赏析

For years, attempts have been made to build a canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
多年来就已经开始尝试建立一条连接大西洋和太平洋的运河了
Such a canal would cut East to West travel time in half saving ships over eight thousand miles per trip.
这样一条运河能将东西半球的行驶时间 缩短一半 船舶每次可以少走八千多英里
But no one's had the power to make it happen, until now.
但是在此之前没有谁有这么大的能量
J.P. Morgan acts as the middle man for the government and raises forty million dollars - OR seven billion dollars today-- to get the project started.
J·P·摩根充当政府的中间人 筹集了四千万美元 相当于今天的七十亿 项目得以开工
The Panama Canal is the most ambitious construction project the United States has ever undertaken.
巴拿马运河是美国有史以来最雄心勃勃的建设项目
Over 75,000 workers labor in brutal heat, fighting off deadly diseases, digging a canal 51 miles from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
超过七万五千名工人冒着酷热 以及致命疾病的危险 挖出一条贯穿大西洋与太平洋的51英里长的运河
To assemble the manpower, the material, and the finances; to cut a swath through the middle of Panama and join the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean--only an industrially sophisticated nation could do that.
要整合如此规模的人力物力财力 在巴拿马中间切出一大块 贯通大西洋与太平洋 只有一个成熟的工业国家才能做到这一点
The Panama Canal embodies everything that makes America the most powerful country on the planet.
巴拿马运河体现了一切 美国得以成为地球上最强大国家的所有要素
Built on steel, powered by electricity and running on gasoline.
由钢铁打造 电力驱动靠汽油运行
And it's all made possible due to the financial might of one of the country's most powerful men.
而让这一切成为可能的是美国最有权势的人物之一的金融实力

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洛克菲勒、范德比尔特、卡内基、阿斯托、福特和摩根，他们的名字几乎是美国梦的近义词，也代表着美国梦的历史。他们转变了他们所接触的每个行业：石油、铁路、钢铁、船运、汽车，还有金融。他们的付出改变了一个国家。出身贫寒，他们却多次涉足总统选举，设立经济政策，影响他们那个年代——内战到大萧条时期。他们，被称为造就美国的人。

重点讲解

讲解：
attempt (to do sth) | ~ (at sth / at doing sth)
企图；试图；尝试:
They made no attempt to escape.
他们没有企图逃跑。

cut sth (by...) | ~ sth (from...) (to...)
削减；缩减；裁减:
Buyers will bargain hard to cut the cost of the house they want.
买主会竭力讨价还价以压低他们想买的房子的价格。

assembled company
聚集；集合；收集:
She then addressed the assembled company (= all the people there).
接着她向全体集合者讲话。

with all sb's might
强大力量；威力:
I pushed the rock with all my might.
我用尽全力推这块石头。

be sophisticated
复杂巧妙的；先进的；精密的:
Medical techniques are becoming more sophisticated all the time.
医疗技术日益复杂精妙。

embody sth
具体表现,体现,代表(思想或品质)
A politician who embodied the hopes of black youth has emerged.
一个代表黑人青年希望的政治家脱颖而出。